Hope Carries On
by Dancingqueen4Life
Summary: After the events of Hope, Natasha and Clint move on with their lives and deal with the new struggles. Sequel to my story Hope. You should probably read that before reading this, just so you know how I'm seeing these characters. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**So this is the sequel to my story Hope. You should read that just to have an idea of what's going on and how I'm seeing the characters. Hope you guys like it. I was given an idea by Malmal86, but it might take a few chapters to work it into the story.**

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Natasha Barton was woken up by something brushing her nose. Without opening her eyes, she reached a hand out and groped around until she found the source. A squeal told her everything she needed to know.  
She turned her head slightly and squinted her eyes open to find her 2-year-old daughter sitting on the bed next to her with a feather in her hand.  
"Mama! I'm wakin' up, you wakin' up too?" Andria asked excitedly.  
"No. It's too early, Baby Bird."  
"Mama, time to play!" Andria insisted.  
Natasha turned her head and saw that it was 9:00. Definitely time to wake up.  
"Don't you want to cuddle with me, Baby Bird?" Natasha asked as she pulled her daughter into her arms.  
"No!" Andria exclaimed as she tried to squirm out of her mother's hold. Sighing, Natasha let her go and sat up.  
"Where's Papa, Baby Bird?" She asked as Andria contemplated the drop to the ground.  
"Papa go to work." Andria replied.  
Natasha nodded to herself as she continued to look at her daughter. Finally, she pulled Andria into her arms as she stood up, earning another squeal. Natasha kissed Andria's head as she walked into the bathroom and set Andria in the tub before she began to brush her teeth. When she was done, she lifted her daughter onto her hip again and they made their way out of the master bedroom.  
"Did you go potty this morning, Baby Bird?"  
"All by m'self, Mama!"  
"Good job. Was your bed wet when you woke up?"  
"Dunno." Andria said.  
"Well, let's find out." Natasha decided.  
They entered Andria's room, the same one Steve had painted before she was born. The furniture had been changed when Tony made Andria a new bed after she outgrew her crib. It was round and had a detachable rail a few inches high to ensure that she didn't fall out during the night. There were numerous pillows, since Andria couldn't sleep without being surrounded by pillows. The bed frame, and the rest of the furniture was white, making the design on the walls even cooler to look at.  
"Your bed is dry, Baby Bird. Good Job." Natasha said as she kissed her daughter again.  
"Time to make it, Mama?" Andria asked.  
Natasha nodded and set her daughter in the middle as she began to throw the pillows onto the floor. She took the blankets and pulled them up and over Andria, earning a delighted giggle.  
"Wait a minute. I know I had my baby bird with me. Where did she go?"  
Andria giggled from under the covers as Natasha pretended to look around for her.  
"JARVIS, have you seen Andi this morning? I thought I brought her back here with me, but I can't find her."  
"I can't say I remember seeing her. I do know that the lump in her bed will annoy her when she goes to sleep tonight."  
"You're right, thanks, JARVIS." Natasha said as she began to tickle the lump in the middle of the bed, causing an eruption of delighted squeals and giggles.  
After a minute, Natasha pulled away. "Why won't the lump flatten out?"  
She pulled the covers back and revealed her daughter lying there with her hair spread in a circle around her. Andria was still laughing and squirming around on the bed. Natasha picked her up and set her on the floor when Andria had finally calmed down. Natasha pulled the blankets back where they belonged, tugging until there were no creases. Together she and Andria made their way around the bed, with Andria handing her pillows to put on the bed. Only when the Pooh Bear animals had been placed in the right order was the bed deemed properly made.  
As Andria went to her toy corner, Natasha went to her dresser and opened a drawer.  
"Do you want to wear a wonderful, Baby Bird?"  
"Yes. Blue."  
Natasha pulled out a blue dress and held it up for inspection before throwing it on the bed when Andria agreed.  
"Do you want big girl underwear, Baby Bird? Or are you going to be too excited to tell someone if you need to go potty?"  
"Imma big girl, Mama." Andria said.  
"I know you are. But big girls get excited too."  
Andria considered this for a moment before deciding. "Big girl."  
Natasha nodded and grabbed a pair of underwear for her daughter.  
She picked Andria up from where she was playing and stood her on the bed. She had Andria out of her pajamas and into the new underwear in seconds and was about to pull the dress over her head when Andria jumped down from the bed and ran back to her toy corner where she hid behind a massive teddy bear Tony had given her.  
"Andi? What's wrong, Baby Bird?"  
"Don't wanna wear the wonderful." She said softly.  
Natasha set the dress down and smiled at her daughter. "Ok." She held her hand out and took a step closer to her daughter. "Do you want to help me pick out your outfit?"  
Andria nodded and ran to Natasha. Natasha easily lifted Andria from the floor and walked with her back to the dresser where she put the dress away.  
She opened the next drawer and let Andria look over the shirts. Andria considered her options carefully- just like she did with every decision. Finally, she picked a long-sleeved gray shirt. Natasha reached out to open the next drawer, but at a shake of Andria's head, Natasha skipped over the pants and shorts and went straight to the skirts. Andria quickly picked a black knee length skirt with electric blue trim. Natasha pulled it out and set it on the floor next to the shirt.  
"Leggings?" Natasha asked.  
When Andria nodded, Natasha opened the drawer and smiled when her daughter picked a pair that matched the trim on her skirt.  
Natasha helped Andria into the leggings and shirt before pulling the skirt on so that it looked like it was tucked in. She handed Andria a pair of polka dot socks and watched as the 2-year-old pulled them on with only slight difficulty. When the socks were on, Natasha helped Andria into her black Uggs.  
After Andria was finally dressed, Natasha sat her down and began brushing through her blood red curls. Andria's hair went to just above the middle of her back and looked the exact same as Natasha's, but it was a lot easier to brush.  
When Natasha finished brushing Andria's hair, she grabbed a black stretchy headband with a black and silver flower on it and stuck it in Andria's hair.  
"Your turn?" Andria asked.  
"Yep. Then we can go downstairs." Natasha said as they walked down the hallway together.  
"Lizzie downstairs?" Andria asked.  
"Not yet, but Darcy and Steve are." Natasha replied.  
When they entered Natasha and Clint's room they went into the walk-in closet. While Andria played with a few buttons she found on the floor, Natasha pulled on a pair of denim shorts and a tank top. After she ran a brush through her hair, Natasha picked Andria up and settled her on her hip as they left their floor and got in the elevator. They arrived on the common floor moments later and Natasha smiled when she saw Darcy on the couch reading, her book resting slightly on her small baby bump.  
"Hey, Darce." Natasha called as she and Andria walked in.  
Darcy looked up and smiled. "Hi, Tasha. Hi, Baby Bird."  
Darcy greeted.  
Natasha set Andria on the floor and watched as her daughter ran to Darcy and climbed onto the couch with a little help from a footstool. Andria managed to squirm onto Darcy's lap, earning a chuckle from Natasha and Darcy.  
"Guess what, Aunt Darcy?" Andria asked.  
"What, Baby Bird?"  
"I go potty by m'self this morning!"  
"Good job, Baby Bird." Darcy praised.  
"What did Andi do?" Steve asked as he walked in from the kitchen carrying two mugs; one with coffee for himself and the other with tea for Darcy. Darcy smiled as she took the mug from her fiancé while he situated himself on the couch next to her. When he was comfortable, Steve reached over and pulled Andria onto his lap.  
"Huh? What did you do, Baby Bird?" He asked.  
"I pottied by m'self this morning!"  
"Was it really by yourself? Or did your Papa help you?"  
"By m'self. Papa didn't know I was wake till I told him." Andria said.  
"Well then, good job." Steve said as he kissed the top of her head.  
Natasha came back into the living room with a bowl of fruit for herself and another one for Andria. Steve took the bowl for Andria with a smile and held it while his niece ate happily.  
"Want to know the bestest part, Uncle Steve?" Andria asked.  
"What is it, Baby Bird?"  
"Mama says that when I not go potty in my underwear, I get to wear big girl underwear."  
"Really?" Darcy asked, more toward Natasha than Andria. She already had a list of things to steal from Natasha for when she had her baby.  
"Yeah. It gives her incentive, since she doesn't like diapers." Natasha said as she popped a grape into her mouth.  
"_Anyways._ Since I pottied by m'self, Mama let me wear big girl underwear today!" Andria exclaimed, smiling up at Steve.  
"What's this I hear about big girl underwear?" A voice asked from the elevator.  
"Lizzie!" Andria exclaimed and squirmed until Steve snapped to and set her on the floor. Andria took off running and jumped into Lizzie's arms.  
"Hey, girlie." Lizzie said before kissing Andria's head.  
"Hi, Tasha." She called.  
"Hey Liz. Bruce is in his lab."  
"I figured as much." She replied with a chuckle.  
"You guys going out for coffee?" Darcy asked.  
"Yeah."  
At that moment, Bruce walked in. He smiled at his teammates and Darcy and pulled Andria into his arms for a quick hug. He set her down and pulled Lizzie in for a soft kiss, causing Andria to make gagging noises.  
"Baby Bird, where did you learn that?" Bruce asked as he turned to smile at the little girl.  
"Papa."  
The adults smiled and Andria turned back toward Steve so she could eat the rest of her fruit.  
"Where is birdbrain?" Darcy asked, having just realized he was gone.  
"Work." Andria said as she pushed Steve's hand away from her fruit bowl. "Mine." She said to him, earning a chuckle from him.  
"Sorry." He replied. Andria nodded once and bit into an apple slice.  
Bruce and Lizzie waved goodbye, and soon it was just the four people in the common room. When Andria finished her fruit, Steve set her bowl on the coffee table and reclined slightly into the couch. JARVIS turned on a movie and soon everyone was engrossed.  
Just as the movie was ending, Andria slid off Steve's lap and crawled across the small gap to Darcy's.  
"Can I help you, Baby Bird?" Darcy asked.  
"I has to potty." Andria said.  
Natasha sighed and started to stand up, but Darcy waved her off.  
"I can take her, if you don't mind."  
"Go ahead. Be prepared to hold her up for a while to wash her hands though."  
Darcy shrugged and stood up. She helped Andria off the couch and walked behind her to the bathroom. Natasha and Steve watched them walk away, nearly identical looks on their faces.  
"That'll be you before you know it." Natasha said after she heard the bathroom door close.  
"I can't wait." Steve said, and Natasha could tell he meant it.  
"You'll be great, Steve."  
"You really think so?"  
"Steve. If Clint and I can raise Andi, you and Darcy will be just fine."  
Steve chuckled and nodded.  
"What's Clint doing at work anyway? I thought he was only doing Avengers missions now that Andi was born."  
"Training. We all have to do it every once in a while. My goal is actually to stay on maternity leave until my turn passes, so I can skip it for another couple years."  
"It can't really be that bad." Steve said.  
Natasha gave him a look. "They're all incredibly cocky. They can't fight, they can't shoot, and they cry over a paper cut."  
"Seriously?"  
"Ok, so I may have poured a little hand sanitizer on the paper cut." Natasha confessed.  
"How much is a little?" Steve asked.  
"Like a little. Not much at all." Natasha said.  
"Tasha." Steve said.  
"Enough to fill their palm." She growled.  
"No wonder they cried!"  
"It was pathetic."  
Steve chuckled at her annoyance.  
"It's the damn boys that are the worst. They always hit on me. Even when I challenge them and they end up with a dislocated shoulder, they still think the have a shot."  
"Really?" Steve asked.  
"Yeah. The girls are pretty bad too. They hit on Clint constantly. Once I dislocated a girl's shoulder and sprained one of her wrists and one of her ankles when she got a little handsy with Clint. Still haven't gotten in trouble for it." Natasha added smugly.  
Steve laughed but didn't say anymore because Darcy and Andria were coming back.  
Natasha held her arms out and lifted Andria onto her chest where her daughter curled up just as the next movie started. Darcy situated herself against Steve's chest and was on the brink of sleep not much later.  
Halfway through the movie, Steve looked down and found that Darcy was sleeping with her face pressed into the crook of his neck. He looked to the other couch and saw Natasha's chest rising and falling evenly, indicating that she was sleeping. Andria was asleep too, her left arm dangling across Natasha's waist.  
Steve leaned down and kissed Darcy's head before allowing himself to sleep as well.

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**There you go! I hope you guys liked it.  
Side note: The thing with the lump in the bed is a game my sister and I used to play with our parents when we woke them up in the mornings. We'd crawl under the covers while one left to start breakfast and the other went into the bathroom. When whoever was in the bathroom came out, they'd call the other parent back into the bedroom and they'd tackle/tickle the 'lump' until my sister and I emerged.  
Also, the part where both Natasha and Adria call dresses wonderfuls is also something my sister used to do. It started because whenever anyone gave my sister a dress as a present, my mom would say, 'Oh, how wonderful!' so my sister thought they were called wonderfuls. Real life provides the best inspiration, doesn't it?  
Feel free to take the poll on my profile, since it's changed slightly.  
Reviews are wonderful. You should write one. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, back to the story. I know I said I'd be busy this week, but I had time today to write this, so I thought I'd get it out to you. **

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3 hours later, Natasha and Andria walked into the SHILED base. As soon as she was inside, Andria took off running. Natasha sighed but let her go, after all, it wasn't like Andira could get very far away from her.  
As if to prove her point, Andria suddenly ran into a pair of legs and almost went toppling to the ground. The only reason she avoided a fall to her bottom was because Maria leaned down and scooped her into her arms first.  
"Andi? What are you doing here?"  
"Visit Papa." Andria replied, looking around Maria's shoulder.  
"By yourself?"  
"Mama come too."  
"Where is- oh, never mind. I see her."  
"Maria?" Andria asked.  
"Hmm?"  
"Can I go down?"  
"Are you gonna run away?"  
"No."  
Maria sighed but placed the girl on the ground. Almost immediately, Andria took off running down the hall, but Maria managed to grab her after only a few steps.  
"I should have known you'd try to trick me."  
"She does that." Natasha said as she approached the two of them. She pulled Andria into her arms and smiled at Maria.  
"Thanks for grabbing her. I don't feel like chasing after her right now."  
"No problem. What's this I hear about visiting Clint?"  
"He's training newbies."  
"Ah."  
"Mama, where Papa?" Andria asked, slightly concerned.  
"He's in the gym, Baby Bird. We still have to go there."  
"We go now please?"  
Maria laughed. "I guess she doesn't want to see me."  
"Sorry. She's used to Clint and I being around all the time. It was fine back at the tower, but now that she knows he's close, she wants to see him."  
"I understand. I actually have to go too. See you guys around."  
"Uh-huh." Natasha said, avoiding eye contact.  
"Don't even bother trying, Romanoff. Fury's going to want you back from maternity leave soon."  
"But not before my turn has passed." Natasha said smugly.  
Maria sighed but couldn't hide her smile. With a cheerful farewell, she turned and continued on the path she'd been on when Andria ran into her.  
"Mama, come on." Andria said impatiently.  
"Alright, Baby Bird. But remember, Papa's teaching, so you can't go running to him, ok?"  
"No hug?"  
"You can give him a hug, but not until I say it's ok."  
"'Kay."  
Natasha kissed Andria's head and they started down the hallway. When they reached the elevators, Natasha pushed the button for the floor with the gym and waited as the elevator made its way up. When they arrived, Natasha walked down the halls until she was standing outside the viewing room attached to the main gym.  
"We not goin' in the gym?" Andria asked.  
"Not yet." Natasha replied as she stepped into the room and sat down in one of the chairs right behind the window.  
In the gym, Clint was sparing with one of the recruits, and Natasha couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she watched him. After a few seconds, the recruit was on his back as Clint pinned him with a knee to the chest. The next recruit was a busty blonde girl, and Natasha felt herself stiffen slightly. It comforted her slightly that Clint didn't seem to notice the girl's chest, but the fact that the recruit was sticking it out there to try to get his attention annoyed Natasha.  
Within seconds, the girl was on her back and a satisfied smile crossed Clint's mouth. Clint turned away from her panting form and focused his attention on the rest of the group. Without warning, the girl popped up and tackled Clint. Natasha jumped up from her seat but didn't leave the room, waiting to see what would happen.  
Clint didn't try to defend himself, but Natasha was expecting that. What she wasn't expecting was for the girl to lay herself down over him and press her chest into his as her head leaned close to his. For as annoyed as Natasha was with the recruit, she was pleased that Clint was straining away from her.  
"Mama, what she doin' to Papa?" Andria asked.  
It was that simple question that made Natasha snap. She walked calmly over to the door and set Andria down before opening it, being careful to hide her form for the time being.  
"Go ahead and give Papa a hug now, Baby Bird." Natasha said as she smiled at her daughter. Andria smiled back and turned to run into the room. The noise of the door opening caused all the recruits to turn toward the noise, an many visibly relaxed when Andria came running out. The recruit on top of Clint, however, didn't move. Instead she watched as Andria came running across the gym while she continued to press her chest into Clint's.  
"Papa!" Andria called excitedly, causing a grin to break out on Clint's face. If his daughter was here, Natasha wasn't far behind.  
Sure enough, as soon as Andria arrived at Clint's side, Natasha stepped through the door.  
Clint managed to get the recruit off of his chest just as Andria reached his side. He stood up and pulled Andria into his arms as she hugged him tightly.  
"Hi, Baby Bird."  
"Hi, Papa." Andria replied as she kissed his cheek. Clint started making his way toward Natasha in an effort to stop her from hurting the recruit, but after taking a few steps, he found himself toppling to the ground again. He had barely enough time to notice he was falling before he had to shift Andira to avoid falling on her. Instead he landed flat on his back and all the air left his lungs.  
"Papa?" Andria asked quietly. "Papa hurt?"  
"Only a little. Are you ok, Andi?"  
"Yeah."  
Clint just started getting his wits about him when he heard footsteps running toward him. It was only when he heard excessive cussing in Russian that he realized Natasha was running toward him, but rather she was running at the female recruit.  
A smack rang out in the gym and the female recruit let out a grunt of pain.  
"Clint." Natasha said, her voice telling him how dangerous she was.  
Clint nodded once and pulled himself to his feet. He shifted Andria to a more comfortable position and started walking toward the viewing room.  
"Do I need to call?" He asked over his shoulder.  
"Might be a good idea." Natasha replied.  
When Natasha heard the door close she turned her full attention to the girl in front of her.  
"The rest of you, watch carefully. You're about to get a lesson in what happens when you come on to someone who doesn't want it."  
"How do you know he didn't want it?" The girl asked.  
Natasha held up her left hand where her engagement and wedding ring rested on her finger. "You see these? These mean he doesn't want it."  
"That doesn't mean anything. Plenty of men cheat on their wives."  
Natasha slapped the girl again. "Then I'll restate my previous statement. You're all about to learn what happens when you touch something that belongs to me."  
The girl scoffed at Natasha. Suddenly, she found herself on the ground, her right arm twisted back at a painful angle.  
"You can't actually hurt me. They'll kick you out." The girl hissed.  
Natasha laughed bitterly. "Honey, I'm te best they've got. They can't kick me out. Besides, if they did, I'd go back to the Russians."  
Natasha heard the gasp from some of the other recruits as they fully realized who she was.  
"It's bad enough you practically dry humped my husband. But the fact that you tackled him while he was holding our daughter is what you'll be in trouble for."  
"Even if you're the best, you can't hurt me. I don't have a chance to defend myself."  
Natasha laughed and pushed a little harder, causing a pop to sound and an agonized scream to slip form the recruit's mouth.  
"Oh man up. Dislocations don't hurt that much." Natasha said as she shifted her weight and heard the other shoulder dislocate. The recruit screamed again, and Natasha stood up.  
"As to your comment about not having a chance to defend yourself. First, no one ever has a chance. If I decide to attack them, it's up to me what happens, and nothing they can do will change it. Second, you should consider yourself lucky. Most people I attack end up dead. They're still searching for some of my victims in the Russian wilderness."  
With that, Natasha turned and left the room, passing the medical team Clint had called in.  
Natasha returned to the viewing room to find Clint smiling at her.  
"God, I love you." He said.  
"I love you too." Natasha replied as she kissed him quickly.  
"So, she annoyed you?" Clint asked playfully.  
"She attacked you while you were carrying Andria. I acted on instinct."  
"And I'm very glad you did. Whaddya say we get out of here?" Clint asked as he slipped his free arm around Natasha's waist.  
"Sounds wonderful." She replied as they left the viewing room together.  
They almost made it to the front doors of HQ before a voice stopped them.  
"What the hell was that?" Maria asked loudly.  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Natasha said innocently.  
Maria just gave her a look. "Fine. As long as there's no lasting damage."  
"Just two dislocated shoulders."  
"Two?!"  
"I only meant to do one, but I shifted my weight and the other one popped."  
Maria sighed. "You've got to stop breaking my recruits." She said.  
"They've got to stop coming on to my husband." Natasha replied.  
"Fine. Get out of here." Maria replied.  
Natasha and Clint turned and walked out the doors.  
"Tasha?" Clint asked a short while later.  
"Hmm?"  
"That part you said, about going back to the Russians..."  
"I was bluffing, Clint. They'd kill me if I ever returned. If my time with SHIELD ends, I'm not running. At least not back to them."  
Clint sighed in relief and nodded.  
It wasn't until a few minutes had passed that Natasha heard the question she'd figured she'd hear from the beginning.  
"That part, about the second dislocation being and accident was complete crap, wasn't it. There's no way you could shift your weight and 'accidentally' dislocate her other shoulder. You're too aware of yourself and everyone else to do that."  
"I know. But Maria doesn't need to know, does she?"  
Clint laughed and kissed Natasha's temple as they continued their walk back to the tower.

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**Hope you guys liked it! Malmal86, was this along the lines of what you had in mind?  
Reviews are wonderful. You should write one. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I know I should update this more, but it's surprisingly more difficult than I thought it would be to write. That being said, if any of you want to see anything, let me know and I'll do my best.**

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"Andria! What are you doing?" Natasha asked as she entered her daughter's room to wake her up from her nap.  
Immediately, Andria stopped and turned to face her mother. "Umm, I jumpin', Mama!" She finally exclaimed.  
"What have I told you about jumping on the bed?" Natasha asked as she stepped into the room.  
"I not s'posed to." Andria murmured.  
Natasha sighed but couldn't help the smile crossing her face. Her daughter seemed to have inherited Clint's ability to send her walls crashing down with just one look.  
"Come on." Natasha finally said as she held her arms out to her daughter.  
"Where we goin'?" She asked as she jumped from her bed into Natasha's arms.  
"Somewhere you can jump around."  
"Really?!"  
"Yes, really." Natasha said as she kissed Andria's temple.  
2 minutes later, they arrived at the gym and Natasha carried her daughter to the gymnastics area and set her down on the trampoline.  
"Feel free to bounce around in here, Andria."  
"Pwomise, Mama?"  
"Yes."  
Andria regarded her mother for a few seconds before nodding quickly once and turning away to start jumping. Natasha watched her daughter as she bounced around and giggled every now and then. Finally, Natasha couldn't hold back any longer and jumped up on the trampoline next to her daughter. After a second of confusion, Andria smiled and began bouncing away from Natasha as she chased after the little girl. 10 minutes later, Natasha managed to scoop Andria up when the little girl started getting tired. Andria struggled and squealed but Natasha quickly started tickling her, causing her laughter to fill the air.  
Finally, Natasha put her daughter down with a smile.  
"Are you all jumped out yet?" She asked hopefully.  
"Nope." Andria said with a smile.  
Natasha sighed. "Fine. You have 5 more minutes to keep jumping, Baby Bird."  
"Mama done?"  
"Yeah. Mama's gonna watch you jump, ok?"  
"Kay."  
Natasha kissed Andria on the cheek before doing a back flip off the trampoline, much to Andria's excitement.  
"I wanna do that!" Andria exclaimed.  
"Not yet, Baby Bird. When you get bigger I'll teach you, ok?"  
Andria looked a little upset but nodded.  
"Ok. Get back to jumping." Natasha said with a smile.  
Andria nodded once and continued jumping, quickly forgetting that she was upset.  
As Natasha watched her daughter jumping and smiling, she couldn't help but wonder what her life could have been like if she'd been given a childhood. She often wondered, and on occasion she'd shared her musings with Clint. She never saw any harm in wondering, it was natural after all. Everyone wants to know what could have been. Besides, she'd never trade her life for something else, because then she never would have married Clint or had her daughter, and she wouldn't trade anything for the chance to be with them.  
Natasha was ripped from her thoughts as she heard a crash followed by a very distinctive cry.  
"Andria?! What happened, Baby Bird?" She asked as she ran around the trampoline and found her daughter lying on the ground crying.  
"It huuuurts, Mama." She whimpered, ignoring Natasha's question.  
Natasha was about to ask again, when she noticed the red on her daughter's arm.  
"Are you bleeding, Baby Bird?" She asked gently as she crouched by Andria's side.  
"Make it stop, Mama. Please!" The little girl cried.  
Natasha cradled Andria's arm carefully and inspected the cut.  
"Sit right here, Baby Bird. I'm gonna go get some stuff to clean it, ok?"  
"It hurts, Mama." Andria whimpered.  
"I know, Baby. I'll be right back, ok? I'm not even going to leave the room."  
"Kay." Andria said.  
Natasha kissed Andria's head and stood up. She made her way quickly to where the medical supplies were and grabbed some gauze and antiseptic cream. If Andria needed stitches, Natasha was going to take her to Bruce rather than risk doing them herself. It was one thing to stitch her husband. It was another to stitch her two-year-old daughter.  
Natasha returned to Andria's side and carefully began cleaning off the blood. Her daughter had managed to stop crying and looked quite calm, which slightly unnerved Natasha. When she'd cleaned off Andria's arm, Natasha realized the reason her daughter was so calm.  
"Baby Bird, where did the scrape go?"  
"Dunno. But it doesn't hurt."  
Natasha looked closely at Andria's arm, trying to find any sight of the injury. Finally, she found what she was looking for.  
It was tiny now, barely noticeable unless you knew exactly what to look for. But once Natasha saw it, she was certain. Andria's skin was slowly stitching itself back together.  
As soon as Natasha was sure what was happening, She stood and took a few steps away from her daughter. She could feel the anger coming on, and she didn't want to accidentally hurt her.  
"Mama?" Andria whispered, surprised by Natasha's actions. "You mad at me? I sorry I fell."  
"I'm not mad at you, Alexandria." Natasha said, trying to make her voice sound calm, but based on Andria's face, Natasha knew she'd failed.  
As she felt another wave of anger overtake her mind, Natasha snapped her eyes shut, trying to put off lashing out until Andria was elsewhere.  
"JARVIS?" She asked tensely. "Can you please send Tony up here?"  
"Certainly." The AI replied.  
Natasha could hear Andria not far from her, but she didn't want to risk scaring the little girl any more than she already was.  
"I promise I'm not mad at you, Baby Bird." Natasha said, her voice much calmer.  
2 minutes later, the door opened and Tony walked in. "What do you need, Spidey?" He called.  
"Get her out of here." Natasha said in a voice that told Tony not to argue.  
Tony looked passed Natasha and found Andria sitting on the floor with fear in her eyes. He carefully walked across the room and picked the little girl up, ignoring her struggles as she tried to break free.  
"Keep her with you and Pepper until Clint or I comes to get her?" Natasha asked.  
"Of course." Tony said. He walked back through the gym, trying not to let his heart break as he heard Andria sniffle into his shirt. She was gripping it tightly in her hands now and had her face buried right next to the glow from the arc reactor.  
Natasha's voice stopped Tony when he got to the door.  
"Can you get Sharon here now, please?" She asked.  
"I'll do my best." Tony answered, and Natasha nodded.  
"They've left the floor, Agent Romanoff." JARVIS informed her.  
Instantly, Natasha's eyes snapped open, anger radiating through her body. She stalked over to where the punching bags are and immediately started attacking one. She didn't bother wrapping her hands, knowing that the serum in her veins would heal any injuries.  
_The same serum that's in her veins too._ Natasha thought angrily as she lashed out at the bag. Without thinning, she pulled one of her knives from the various hiding places on her body and slashed at the bag. It felt good, so she did it again, and then again. She continued attacking the punching bag with a knife until there was little left to slice. When she realized this, she took a deep breath and moved to the next one, lashing out with her fists before pulling out her knife again.  
Eventually, Natasha lost track of time, but she was brought back when she heard footsteps behind her. A quick glance around showed that she'd demolished 5 punching bags and was halfway through a sixth.  
"And here I was thinking Cap was the only one who cold destroy punching bags."  
"You know I'm just as strong as he is, Sharon." Natasha said.  
"True. What led to this?" She asked gesturing to the carnage.  
"Shit." Natasha said evenly.  
"Ok, crazy lady. Put the knife down and turn around." Sharon finally said.  
Natasha sighed but complied. Somewhat.  
"What part of 'put the knife down.' don't you understand?" Sharon asked.  
"You wanted to know what was wrong." Natasha said simply before taking the knife and making a small cut on her forearm. "This is what's wrong."  
Sharon sighed. "I know about your freaky healing, Romanoff. You didn't need to show me. _Again."  
"_It's not me. It's _her._"  
"Who? Andi?" Sharon asked.  
"Yeah."  
"What happened?"  
"It's in her blood too." Natasha said, her voice defeated.  
"Oh." Sharon said.  
"Yeah. 'Oh.'"  
Suddenly, Natasha threw her knife, sending it flying through the air and embedding itself in the wall across the room.  
"Tasha!" Sharon exclaimed.  
"I'm leaving." Natasha said suddenly.  
"Wait, what?"  
"I'm leaving." Natasha repeated.  
"Why? Where are you going?"  
"I have to kill what remains of the Red Room." Natasha said.  
"Tasha, it's fine."  
"Not it's not!" Natasha yelled. "It's not fine! It'll never be fine! _She'll_ never be fine!"  
"Going on a manhunt won't help anything!" Sharon exclaimed.  
"I need to find them before they find her!" Natasha cried.  
"Who said they'd find her?" Sharon asked.  
"No one. But they will."  
"You don't know that, Tasha." Sharon said gently.  
"Yes I do! They put trackers in that shit, Sharon! Even now, they know where I am, all the time!"  
"What? Why didn't you ever say anything?"  
"There's nothing anyone can do!"  
"How do you know?"  
"Because. It's not just in my blood. It's in my muscles, my bones. Everything that has come into contact with my blood has it. Even my skin. You can't take them out. And now she has them too! She's only 2 years old and already they can find her!"  
"I'll do a blood test, ok? We knew she'd be slightly like you, but we still don't know how much. It's possible she only inherited some of the side effects."  
"You know it's true."  
"Maybe I do. But I'm still going to make sure before you go running off and get yourself killed." Sharon said.  
Before Natasha could answer, the door opened and Clint stepped inside the gym.  
"Sharon? Can you give us a minute?"  
"Yeah. Is Andria still with Tony and Pepper?"  
"She is."  
"Alright. I'm gonna go get a little bit of her blood for the test then." She said before turning and walking away.  
When they were alone, Natasha hit a button on her belt. As soon as she saw the tiny red lights disappear from the cameras, she allowed herself to crumble.  
Clint was by her side before she hit the ground.  
"Breathe, Tash." He murmured.  
"Why her, Clint? She doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve any of this."  
"I know, Tasha. But wallowing won't fix anything."  
"She was so scared of me, Clint. God, I terrified her."  
"I know. But you made sure not to act on your anger until she was gone."  
"Barely."  
"That's not what counts." Clint said softly.  
"I'd just been thinking about the fact that she gets to have the normal lives we never did. And then this happened."  
"But we'll make it through this."  
"How can you be so sure?"  
"Because. No matter what the blood tests say, nothing will change. We'll still love her. We'll still do anything to protect her."  
"But _they'll_ come after her."  
"That was always a risk. They're all underground, Tash. They don't have nearly enough people to be able to break in here and hurt her. Or any of us for that matter."  
"So, what? We'll just stay locked up in the tower forever? 'Sorry, Earth. We might be in danger, so we can't help you anymore.' Somehow I don't think people will like that."  
"Maybe not. But if it's what we need to do to keep her safe, then I'll do it. I've never cared what the rest of the world thinks. I just care about keeping my girls safe."  
"What happens when she gets older, Clint? When she wants to know about our jobs? How do we keep her safe from that?"  
"We don't. You may not want to tell her straight out, and I don't particularly like the thought of that either, but I will not lie to her. If she asks a question, I'll tell her the truth, even if I'm worried about how she'll react."  
"And when she learns about the things I've done?"  
"We've both done horrible things Tasha. But that's not who she knows. She'll only ever know us as the parents that did the best we could. We'll never hurt her intentionally. She'll never be turned into a science experiment and I'll never smack her around. She'll learn about what we did, it's inevitable. But she'll know that the things we were forced into doing aren't who we really are."  
"Promise?"  
"No. Promises don't exist for us. But I know I'm right." Clint said with a smile.  
Natasha nodded and leaned in to kiss him softly.  
"Come on." Clint said when they broke apart. "Let's go find our Baby Bird."  
Natasha nodded and allowed Clint to pull her up from the floor.  
They left the gym and took the elevator to Tony and Pepper's floor. They found their friends sitting in their living room with the TV on.  
"Hi guys." Clint said softly. "Where's Andria?"  
"She was getting sleepy, So I took her to our room to sleep." Pepper said.  
Natasha nodded as she lowered herself to the couch. "Was she still crying?"  
"A little." Tony said honestly. "But I made sure she knew you weren't mad at her. You weren't, were you?"  
"Of course not." Natasha said.  
Tony and Pepper nodded, sensing that Natasha wasn't ready to talk about it. As they settled in to watch TV, Natasha let herself relax. Andria was safe, for the time being. She couldn't really ask for anything else.  
1 hour later, Sharon arrived with a few pictures in her hands.  
"I got the results." She said with a smile.  
"That was fast." Pepper said.  
"I just had to look at the sample under a microscope and compare it to Natasha's."  
"What did you learn?" Clint asked.  
"Her blood is completely free of trackers of any kind. Her blood looks exactly like yours, but minus the trackers."  
"How can you be sure it's the trackers she's missing?"  
"Everything else in her blood is supposed to be there. She only has the one kind of extra cells, so it was either the enhancers or the trackers. And since Natasha saw the enhancers working, it was easy to figure out which ones they were. I have pictures to prove it." She said holding out the photographs.  
"Thanks." Natasha said as she took them. After looking at them for a few seconds, Natasha stood and hand the pictures to Clint before turning nd leaving the room.  
She made her way down the hall until she reached Tony and Pepper's room. She quietly opened the door and found Andria asleep on the bed.  
"Baby Bird." Natasha said as she stroked her daughter's hair. "Up you get." She whispered.  
Andria stirred and blinked her eyes open. She met Natasha's eyes and Natasha saw the sadness return.  
"You still mad at me?" Andria asked carefully.  
"I was never mad at you, Baby Bird, and I'm sorry I scared you. But I'm not mad at all anymore."  
"Why were you mad?"  
"When your cut healed itself I was worried. I thought that what had happened to me had happened to you, and it made me very angry."  
"What happened to you?"  
"I'll tell you when you're older. But it wasn't anything happy, that much I'll tell you now."  
Andria thought this over before holding her arms out to Natasha. Natasha smiled as she lifted her daughter from the bed.  
"Ready to go back to our floor?" She asked as she saw that the bedside clock said it was 10:15 pm. Definitely bedtime.  
"Yeah. Can I stay with you and Papa tonight? I won't go potty in your bed."  
Natasha laughed. "Sweetie, it's been nearly 6 months since the last time you went potty anywhere you weren't supposed to. Papa and I aren't worried about it."  
"So can I?" Andria asked.  
"We'll ask Papa." Natasha said as she kissed Andria's cheek.  
Andria tucked her head under Natasha's chin and allowed her mother to carry her from the room. When they arrived in the living room, Clint stood and made his way over, kissing his daughter's head.  
"You ready to leave?" He asked softly.  
"We both are." Natasha replied.  
Clint nodded and smiled as he wrapped his arm around both his girls.  
"Thank you guys." Natasha said as they walked toward the elevator.  
"Don't worry about it." Pepper said with a smile. "You know we love spending time with her."  
Natasha smiled at her friends as the doors slid closed.  
When they got to their floor, Clint and Natasha took Andria to her to room and Clint grabbed her pooh bear before disappearing down the hall to his and Natasha's bedroom while Natasha helped Andria into her pajamas.  
When Andria was deemed ready for bed, Natasha carried her to the master bedroom where Clint had finished getting the bed ready and was currently in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Natasha carried Andria over to the bed and set her down in the mini nest Clint had created for his daughter. Andria grabbed her pooh bear and held it tightly against her chest while Natasha stroked her hair softly as she waited for Clint to finish up.  
When he exited the bathroom, Clint smiled as he watched Natasha run her fingers through Andria's hair.  
"Bathroom's all yours." He whispered, trying not to wake his little girl.  
Natasha smiled and nodded and after a quick kiss to Andria's cheek, she stood and grabbed her pajamas before heading into the bathroom. She emerged a few minutes later to find Clint curled around the nest he'd made while Andria had rolled to face him.  
Natasha smiled as she whispered for JARVIS to turn off the lights as she crawled into bed on the other side of Andria. Natasha got as close as she could to her daughter and reached out to intertwine her fingers with Clint's. Clint brought her hand up to his mouth a pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles and Natasha could feel the smile on his face.  
With one last kiss to their daughter, Clint and Natasha fell asleep.

* * *

**Hope you guys like it! I know it got a little worrisome, but I fixed it. I know the whole tracker thing is kinda weird, but it just came to me, and I thought 'Why not?'  
Reviews are wonderful. You should write one. :)**


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